How To Increase An Existing Rating %
A great idea to learn more about how your condition is rated when others have appealed decisions similar to yours is to use the BVA search engine. Just like the image you see over there, the search engine asks for key words, then you pick the years to search and you are off on your research journey.
The BVA search engine is a great tool to study your particular condition and the potential and issues surrounding it.
A Veterans Affairs (VA) disability compensation rating reflects the rated condition in the approximate moment in time when the rating decision was made. Ratings in 10% increments reflect the severity of a disabling condition on an increasing scale from 0% to 100%.
There are ratings above and beyond the standard 100% rating and those are reserved for the most acutely injured or ill veterans. It's accepted that over time a given disabling condition may become worse or more disabling and an upward adjustment to the rating should be considered. There are a few common sense steps to performing what is essentially a new application for a benefit...this one being an increase.
To be sure you're eligible and can prove your claim, have a look at The Schedule For Rating Disabilities
The Schedule is your guide to what you may be eligible for. You may learn that your current rating is already at the maximum or that your current rating is seriously deficient. You have to research it to know. Gather your evidence and records to support the increase.
If there are civilian medical records, you have to gather those for yourself. Do not rely on VA to obtain your civilian records.
It's time to file the claim.
Be as precise as you can to describe just what it is that you want. Provide supporting evidence. I think that it's a good idea to go ahead and have an IMO done .
File your Intent To File A Claim form and have an IMO done to provide when you finally get around to filing the claim for an increase.
If you take the time to do a thorough job of crossing t's and dotting i's after you've filed your Intent to File form, an increase is a pretty sure thing. You have to go in with all the evidence you need though...do not depend on VA to help!
If you're sure, go for it. If you aren't sure, you have some more work to do.
File the intent to file and gather evidence!
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Hey Jim: This Court of Appeals decision is a bit of a smack-down for VA’s implementation of the Appeals Management Act. VA will need to relook what they are doing under AMA - although this case only speaks to three specific regulations, a broader relook of their overall implementation of AMA would probably be prudent. /s/ Drew
Decided: July 30, 2021
Congress enacted the AMA in 2017 to reform the exist-ing VA administrative appeals system, which was,
by all accounts, “broken,” marked by lengthy delays, and plagued with a formidable backlog of cases.
More problematic, however, was the “continuous evidence gathering and readjudication
of the same matters”that caused appeals to “churn” in the system.
MILITARY-VETERANS ADVOCACY, Petitioner v. SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
Government leaders to their workers: Get vaccinated or get tested
“Whenever a Veteran or VA employee sets foot in a VA facility, they deserve to know that we have done everything
in our power to protect them from COVID-19,” Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough said in a statement Monday.
“With this mandate, we can once again make — and keep — that fundamental promise.”
"It's a little like wrestling a gorilla. You don't quit when you're tired.
You quit when the gorilla is tired." — Robert Straus
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Providing Military Veterans Personalized Psychological and Medical Evaluations. Complete the Contact form, and you'll get a personal phone call from us. We listen, and want to know what you are going through. We provide Independent Medical Evaluations (IME), Independent Medical Opinions (IMO) and nexus letters for ratings reviews, secondary conditions, medical conditions, discharge upgrades, and many types of denied claims. We also provide Social Security Disability claim reports.
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< Denis.McDonough@va.gov >
Yes, this really works. No, it doesn't ring in the White House.
Be sure to include your DOB, your last 4, contact info...a couple of numbers, your preferred email and such.
Describe the problem as briefly as you can. Don't rant.
Tell them you read about this at The VAWatchdog Dot Org...they know who we are.
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You may file claims on eBenefits or you can mail them in using certified mail or you can even fax them in.
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To receive some benefits, Veterans need a letter proving their status.
Schedule for Rating Disabilities
Independent Medical Opinion / Nexus Letter
The Board assigns significant probative weight to the September 2019 independent medical opinion of D.B.M., M.D
finding it is at least as likely as not that the veteran’s present left knee condition is the direct result
of his motor vehicle accident injuries that occurred while on active duty.
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Independent Medical Opinion / Nexus Letter
In a November 2011 nexus statement, the Veteran's neurologist opined that that the Veteran's progressive supranuclear
palsy is most likely caused by or a result of his exposure to Agent Orange. The neurologist explained that PSP is a
movement disorder very similar to Parkinson's disease. The neurologist further explained that PSP affects the same areas
as Parkinson's disease and is possibly causally related to chemical exposure such as Agent Orange.
The Board finds that the evidence is at least in equipoise regarding service connection for progressive
supranuclear palsy and will resolve reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran.
C&P Service Clinician’s Guide
This is your C & P examiners guide.
The language used in this guide is very much in effect at your VA. When you have a nexus letter, it should conform
to the phrases you'll find here. For example, your doctor should write "More likely than not" when talking of service connection.
That phrase wins claims, anything less may not.
See Page 14 Section 1.16 How do I give an opinion for nexus (relationship to a military incident?
Fascinating historical documents, reports on items in the news, oddities and fun stuff and government bloopers, they're all here.
Veterans Medical Malpractice
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Jim Strickland
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I'm in Florida, up in the NE corner near Jacksonville.
Are you close? The coffee is on me.
<jim912@gmail.com>
Title 38 - Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief
Volume: 1
Date: 2019-07-01
Original Date: 2019-07-01
Title: PART 17 - MEDICAL
Let's File A Claim
Filing your claim for VAbenefits isn't as hard as some want you to believe. Let's set the effective date of any claim you file in the next year. This one is easy so let's do it right now.
About the Nexus Letter
The professionally written Nexus Letter is often the single most valuable tool we have at our disposal to win claims. If you doubt any of that please go to the Board of Veterans Appeals and use their search to look for cases with Nexus Letters or IMOs. You'll find, "...the Board finds the September 2019 Independent Medical Evaluation Report to be probative even though the Veteran’s service treatment records are silent...". I've referred vets to a small handful of reliable doctors for years. I've received hundreds of positive messages that tell me that the IMO/Nexus Letter works for you as well as it did for me. If you're caught up in an appeal and you aren't sure what else you need or if you want to file a new claim and prevail without a lot of fuss...talk with these doctors and make a plan to win.
Good luck! /s/ Jim
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VA Online Scheduling (VAOS) lets eligible Veterans request community provider appointments
(This looks simple enough. There are only 4 different links you have to click-through to get to ever more complex instructions.
I'll try to use this today. I have no hopes I'll be able to get any appointments. /s/ Jim)
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Are Social Security Disability Benefits Set for Life?
Once SSDI begins, is there any way to increase the benefit amount?
Nexus and IMO Letters
Too many of us skip this important
step.Spending a few minutes taking care of this may give you months
of additional benefits.